


Ask me next time

by Ivychankasumi



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: JUST KISS ALREADY, Jason Todd Mention, Kids Gang, M/M, Never Adopted AU, Orphans, Street Gang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 21:00:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28998651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ivychankasumi/pseuds/Ivychankasumi
Summary: Bruce discovered him years ago. A teenager running across the streets of Gotham. A circus orphan who has been protecting the forgotten children of the city. And after this many years, Bruce can’t deny the attraction he feels for the man he has become.Brudick. One-Shot. Never Adopted AU.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 7
Kudos: 44
Collections: BruDick Week 2021





	Ask me next time

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Español available: [Ask me next time](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28998843) by [Ivychankasumi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ivychankasumi/pseuds/Ivychankasumi)



> For the "Never Adopted AU" prompt for the BruDick Week <3  
> Thank you so much to my beta @quickmanifyouloveme for helping me with grammar.

The same cold as always, in the dark nights of Gotham, in the poor part of the city where it seemed that not only the City Hall had forgotten about them, but the whole world. The street lamps were barely working, the thugs abounded in the alleys, and more than one suspicious light was on among these old and troublesome buildings. 

Their capes swayed in the light wind, on one of the many rooftops. Robin took his work seriously, crossing his arms, leaning on one of the bases of a disused water tank, watching who went in and out of a seemingly abandoned warehouse. According to the information they could get from the whispers on the streets, between midnight and dawn, a batch of weapons would arrive for Two-Face’s gang. Harvey was still as deep into the crime world as ever.

Batman turned his attention away from the target when he noticed some movement a few blocks away. He sharpened his look, and his own cowl’s technology helped him notice a little more. It was a group of five or six teenagers. Too young to be running around at this hour. But it was the Narrows, and there were always kids in bad steps, or lying in dumps.

"Robin," he called to him. "I'll go check something out. Keep an eye out and let me know if anything changes.

"Where are you going?" he asked in vain, because Bruce jumped between the buildings without answering him. The boy sighed and continued the surveillance, using binoculars this time. 

Batman advanced across a pair of rooftops. He used the grapple gun to climb a higher building that blocked his path and finally jumped down, aided by his cape, into an alleyway not as dark as the others. 

His arrival in the shadows wasn't noticed until he walked a couple of steps toward the group of boys. They reacted in various ways. Two of them, the youngest in the group, seemed to be frightened and rushed behind one of the dumpsters, where Batman saw an opening in the concrete wall. Three more only took a couple of steps away, watching his movements. The two of the older ones opted for a more defensive pose. One with both fists raised and the other with a knife that did not seem as sharp as the boy would expect.

To react in this way, he thought, there had to be something out of the ordinary. He didn't have to do anything. His own presence already intimidated them. He raised an eyebrow, expecting a battle cry, a threat, something that would tell him exactly what the situation was. Less experienced criminals usually give themselves away. Even more so if they were not criminals, just scared street kids.

"Relax, boys." A soft voice came from behind the boys’ backs. "Batman can’t hurt you."

A handsome young man had come out of that opening. Blue eyes, slightly long black hair, bronzed skin, and a calm smile with a touch of mockery. 

"I could do it if I don't like what I see."

"I doubt it." He always looked so calm. He wore a soft, slightly worn-out jacket where he kept his hands. Underneath, a cleaner vest. Jeans with a pair of scratches where they reached his light blue and dirty sneakers. 

He jerked to get the remaining boys inside the building. Some kind of hiding place? This one was new. 

"What were your boys doing running around at this hour?"

"Nothing. You know. Walking around."

"They reacted too much to be just an evening walk.

"Why do you care?" He just seemed to play it down, as he walked towards him. 

"Richard."

"Dick," he corrected him by stopping at his side. "It's Dick." He leaned back on the wall, still looking at him with that relaxed look.

It had been a while since he had met this boy. Batmanhad investigated why a skillful boy like him had ended up on the streets and the story wasn't exactly the nicest. 

His parents were killed in an accident orchestrated by the mafia while working in the circus. With the threats of the mafia and without their main act, the circus closed. Although some good-hearted men within the circus wanted to take custody of Richard, to give him a better future, the Gotham police refused to give the opportunity to those they considered freaks. He was taken in by a broken adoption system that mistreated the city's orphans. One day he simply escaped. 

It was just one more lost kid for the city archives. If Bruce had known before, he would have looked for him. It was Jason who had found him. Jason was just a boy and Richard was just a teenager. They had known each other since before, and Jason told Bruce about what Dick was doing on the streets of the city.

Richard didn't seem to care much about his surroundings, but he took in the children he saw lost on the streets, who he saw being exploited by other gangs. He couldn't take in everyone, but he took in those who wanted to go with him and who had the strength to want to survive in this filthy city. He would organize them, hide them, and together they would look for ways to provide themselves with food and clothing whenever they could. And when an adult like Batman found their hiding place, they would look for a new one, where they could be at peace.

"Did they run away for the same reason you have a new place?"

"Not exactly. Penguin got into our factory and we had to relocate. Besides, you had us in your sights too." It was clear to Bruce that Dick was no fool. A few months ago, Batman had already planned to do something about these kids. Just... a lot has happened since then.

"I'm not trying to hurt you."

"But you're looking to bring us closer to someone who can. I can't let you do that." Dick looked through his pockets for a pack of cigarettes about to be finished and lit one.

"You're too young to do that."

"Of course not, not so young anymore."

If the records weren't lying, at this point he was right. Richard was already between seventeen and nineteen years old. 

"Not just the cigarette, Dick." That serious look on Batman’s face was sharpened by his scowl. "I'm talking about all of them."

The boy smiled, putting his free hand back in his jacket, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you expect them to do then?"

"Social services would do a better job with them. They could find someone who wants to take care of them, give them a family. "

Dick smiled. He puffed his cigarette and took his time to slowly release the smoke, looking at it more than at Bruce himself.

"I can tell that you are more familiar with kicking criminals than with the real roots of crime."

"The system is not the same as it was years ago."

"If that were true, I wouldn't have kids in my care who escaped from it recently." He was not surprised that Batman knew about his past. They had argued before that he should go back to the orphanages, to a home. "And many of them would return, what for? To be released in 6 months, when they turn eighteen? It's better to have contacts out here than to go into confinement for an uncertain future. No one looks out for you at that age." 

The adoption rate in Gotham was very low, and even if a couple wanted to do it, they always chose the little ones. Once you turned 12, the odds diminished every day.

"You can't be sure of that."

"No, Batman. It's you who hasn't lived through any of that." Dick tilted his face to the wall, staring at him, knowing full well who was behind that black mask. "I know who you are... It's pretty obvious you're not someone who really knows about the people of Gotham. You defend them from those psychopaths and psychotics who put on costumes to kill us en masse, of course. But there's a lot more than that. A lot of day-to-day things that affect us. Things are wrong because the system is wrong. People like you and the commissioner rely too much on a system that's broken." He took another puff on his cigarette, turning his attention to an empty spot.

"I'm just trying to do what's best for you. For them."

"Like you tried to do for Jason?" Batman frowned. That wound was still fresh... very fresh. Dick knew the identity of the little Robin because he was one of many children who still clung to parents who could not care for them, or who preferred to be alone because of fear. Dick recognized Jason when he appeared so colorfully dressed next to the vigilante. So Dick guessed Batman's real name, but saw no point in revealing it to the public.

Batman wasn't good at understanding them, but it still suited him to get bullies like Two-Face or the Penguin off their backs. It would be a waste. 

"I see you have a new one." He had seen it in the newspapers. Another suit. Another kid. "Is he ten again?"

"Thirteen."

"Hah. Well. Now it's a little older. I don't think I know this one. Where did you find a lost puppy this time, Batman?"

"I didn't... He found me. Robin has a family, parents."

Dick raised an eyebrow and smiled, almost not believing what he heard.

"Then what are you doing with him?" He laughed a little. "You said you took Jason because you needed him and he needed you."

"The city still needs Robin. You don't believe in him, but there are many who put their hopes in him."

"Enough to risk him dying?" Again Batman tensed up, this time a little more wounded. "I'm sorry." Dick looked down, taking a deep breath. "I'm talking very generally about him." They weren't the closest, but Jason was... a good kid. "I didn't think you would have another one after what happened to him. I still can't believe what happened."

Bruce relaxed his expression a bit, getting closer to the boy. He didn't lean against the wall, but stood next to him, looking at some empty spot. Dick was surprised. He lowered his cigarette for a moment to look at Batman's face. He could tell when Batman was acting out the imposing vigilante and when he was genuinely silent because of all the thoughts he had on his mind. This was not the first time they’d had a conversation like this.

"I didn't want to try. His death was... devastating to me. To... other people who loved him too." He wouldn't mention Alfred, no matter that the boy knew he was Wayne. "But Robin, the new Robin, was right that I was crossing the line. And that Robin meant a lot more to the public than I thought."

"You represent fear." Dick completed it, turning away from him, in a kind of reflective tone. "Robin is something more like... hope. A dream. A way of seeing that we too can do something about the injustices of this city. Him not being here anymore affected the kids, too." One more puff. "For them, that he exists is... important. I don't know if it’s ideal to expose a child to all this voluntarily, but these are battles that we have to fight anyway, those of us who live in this situation."

He still had half his cigarette, but the conversation had killed his desire to continue. He threw it on the ground and extinguished it with his worn-out sneakers. 

"Just... You have to take better care of him this time."

"I do. He has been Robin for a long time, but I didn't let him out until he was ready. And he still can't do much on his own. I won't make the same mistake I made with Jason."

"And what was that? "

"Overestimating how much a child's heart and mind can take."

Dick smiled a bit, happy that Bruce didn't blame the other boy. Because it wasn't his fault. Jason was hurt, and Bruce didn't understand how much. Bruce, again, was good at hitting, but he didn't quite understand the hearts of the outcasts.

"I have no idea what your new Robin looks like. If he has parents and I've never met him, he may not be from around here." His smile was kinder, calmer. It was a smile of approval. "But I think he's lucky to be with a stronger Batman. One who is learning from his mistakes."

Bruce got carried away by those words and smiled a little too. Wow. In these last few weeks he thought he was taking so many precautions to protect Tim, but it felt pretty good to be praised this way. That was selfish, surely... His only motive should be the welfare of others, of the city, of Robin. But Richard’s had that little magic.

The boy was clearly shaped by the street. A few scars here and there. A deep look. A maturity unusual for his age. But he was still the boy Bruce had seen in the old recordings and posters. Grace, a dreamy smile, bright eyes, a warm personality. All those children were close to him not only because of the way he helped them, but because he was a kind person who really cared about them. He had a genuine affection for each one of those kids, abandoned by society.

They were all drawn to Richard because of his aura. As if things were going to work out somehow, even though there was a lot of trouble around them. Dick was stubborn, many times they would argue about their different points of view, and he wasn't perfect. But that never changed the feeling that talking to him gave Bruce in the long run.

Bruce knew that he was indulgent with him. More than once he could have really caught him, brought him and all those kids to safety. Together. He had the resources and as a millionaire he could find a way to give them something better, so that Dick could stop relying only on himself and his own street smarts. But would Dick really be happy with that? He doubted it.

Richard was no longer just escaping because he didn't want to be locked up in four walls. He was doing it because he was needed. If those kids had really wanted to be in those institutions, they would have approached them from the beginning. They would try to escape too. Nothing assured him that they would stay, that they would be treated well in every orphanage and home. If they were inside the system, Richard wouldn’t be able to take care of them. Yes, he knew that remaining on the street exposed them to many things, but there was so much that Dick could do for them if he remained here. Guiding them, protecting them in his own way.

Like Batman did with Robin, and with this city.

They weren't really that different. 

They understood each other in many ways and that made Bruce a little tense. Because as Dick grew older and his world view became more like his, he couldn't help but feel a certain attraction. How could he avoid it? With that mischievous smile and those long eyelashes. That well-toned body, with a waist tighter than the average boy's thanks to those gymnastic moves he used to survive on the streets. 

And those talks that made Bruce feel like he was with a partner. With an equal.

Before Bruce caught himself, he was aiming a kind of lost, warmer look directly at the boy. Dick had turned and smiled calmly at him, as if he were waiting for him to explain the reason for that expression. This wasn't the first time Batman had gotten lost like that when they were together.

Bruce could tell this attraction was different from what he had felt for other people, in totally different situations. Dick's sensuality was different than Selina's, with his smooth movements, the swaying of his hips and his mischievous smile. His was warmer, more mature, a little... Protective? He didn't know how to explain it... It was just too much to ignore.

Whenever he felt the blood in his chest pumping this way, he would end up taking a step closer to the boy, with his hands still hidden inside his cape. The shadow of Batman would come over Richard so that he was completely covered. He looked him directly in the eyes. If Dick felt intimidated or nervous, he hid it well, because he only dropped his smile but didn't move.

The two of them shared a wordless moment, with their bodies close and the sound of this restless city in the distance. Dick blinked softly. He didn't approach him in the same way, but he didn't turn away either. Bruce didn't know if Dick was challenging him that way or if Dick felt the same urge that he did.

Bruce leaned toward the boy and brushed his lips against his... once again. This wasn't the first time that Bruce had let his instincts get the better of him and ended up breaking the distance. He liked Dick's lips. They were soft. They were as warm as his voice and soul. Why did he keep doing this? Bruce was going beyond what both Batman and Bruce Wayne believed in. But he couldn't help it. The weeks he spent away from Dick, the months when he didn't hear his voice, his body demanded to see him again.

Dick was no help either. He always let him. He would stand there, waiting to see if he would dare. When he saw that he did, he was the first to move his lips in a light rhythm. In the cold of the night, their breaths began to warm their faces, close together.

The boy raised his hand to Batman's face, touching his cheek softly, where he knew that Batman would feel no danger of being unmasked. Whenever he did, Bruce could tell how cold his fingertips were, and that that jacket wasn't as warm as it looked.

They shared those slight movements, without words, without more looks. Guided only by Dick's tender touch, listening to the soft muffled gasp that he emitted when Bruce dared to use his tongue, tasting just a little bit of his mouth. Richard always opened his lips, letting him in. Bruce felt his hands tingle, wanting to grab him by the waist and hold him. To steal him from the streets. To keep him for himself, to protect him from what was out there and to be able to keep him close enough to enjoy this pleasant feeling whenever he wanted. The color of the boy's cheeks made it obvious that he wanted this in the same way.

"Batman." A voice called from the rooftop of the building. Robin was embarrassed to see what was happening and pressed his lips together as he ducked away.

Bruce stepped aside in one motion, as if nothing had happened.

"What's going on, Robin?" He called for him to come back up, to pretend he didn't see anything.

"Two-Face’s gang is here. I think we should make our entrance." Robin peeked out much less than before, trying not to invade Batman’s privacy and discover a secret that he didn't know Batman had. Until now.

"But what a hard-working little bird," Dick laughed, putting his hands back in his jacket. Although he didn't want to, he pretended that nothing happened, just like Batman.

"I must go."

"I know. Duty calls."

"Will I see you here again?

"No way~" He smiled softly. 

The routine would repeat itself. The boys would leave, find another hiding place. Bruce could find them if he wanted to, but between his foolishness and this strange courtship dance between them, he couldn't. He didn't want to.

He said no more. He took out his batgrapple to go up to the rooftops again and take care of what he had come for. He disappeared into the same darkness from which he came, and Dick smiled as he saw the floor, still with a heart full of excitement.

Where would these needy kisses in the middle of the night take them? Where would Bruce take him with these strange impulses?

He was not sure. But he was becoming more and more certain that he would follow him wherever he asked him to go.

And he hoped that sooner or later, he would...

**Author's Note:**

> Come on, Bruce, just ask him to protect the city with you. You need Nightwing (?)
> 
> I really tried to capture Dick's personality even if he has been living in the streets. ~~I didn't want him to be like other street kids of DC~~
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!  
> You can follow me on Twitter as @softieandstupid.


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